The
Kingdom and its positions of honor have always been more attractive than the
blessed privilege of complete surrender
to and complete association with the Lord of glory. It will therefore
follow that the experience of Jesus, on this occasion, will be repeated in the
lives of those who really do the thing He insists must be done. As, thereafter,
"many walked no more with him,” so
it will be with the faithful, even yet. “The disciple is not above his master,"
and so the pathway of true discipleship will continue to be a lonely way. But
it will be a most blessed way, for it will be the way of vital contact with the
Living Bread, and the way of daily enjoyment of the Living Water which flows
into hearts to invigorate and cleanse them; yes, and then out of such to the
blessing of others. These are they of whom the Scriptures speak so
confidently, "He shall be like a
tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season;
his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”
Being
much alone with God, as this incident shows, fortified Jesus against accepting
any premature Kingdom rights, and it safeguarded Him against any substitution
of quantity for quality. The recognition of His great need of the Father's
continual guidance surely protected Him against ever attempting any
modification of the conditions under which He Himself or His disciples might
hope to gain the approval of God. The stern requirements of the Law He knew
were binding on Him, and failure in one point would constitute Him guilty of
all. He is no less severe in demanding of His disciples a similar demonstration
of fidelity to the will of God. As He must be faithful to God's standard, to
the full extent of His ability, so also must be His followers. With them, all
of life must be a demonstration of the fact that vital union with Him, and
consequent progression toward the perfections of the Father's character, have
become the definite purpose of life, the work within taking precedence above all other things. If therefore the
realization of dependence on God, and the habit of seeking that assistance in
the quiet place of retirement, was so marked in the life of Jesus, how much more so is it needful for us.
The
praying, solitude seeking Master, would still remind us that our wily foe is
very near us when least expected. Our
Lord would still check much of our enthusiasm by warning us that danger lurks
in the midst of what we might consider our greatest triumphs. When we would talk of
having "routed the enemy" and of crumbling his defenses
before our onward march, if we are close enough to Jesus, and quiet enough to
hear Him, we will discover that the devil is not in nearly as great danger of
defeat just then, as we are ourselves.
He will tell us a little of ancient history, of one who “fell like lightning" from heaven through self-exaltation. Then
will come His usual emphasis on the greater realities:
"Notwithstanding, in this rejoice
not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice because your
names are written in heaven" (Luke 10:18, 20). The proper ground for
those who are incapable of being anything other, than "unprofitable servants" is that ground where "what the Lord has done for me,"
extinguishes all desire to boast of what "I
have done for him."
As
in nature, so in grace, the early and latter rains contribute strength to grow
into maturity. The Scriptures abound in promises and assurances in which the seeker after righteousness may well rejoice. God guarantees
to give the increase, if we see to it that our hearts are prepared to receive His
Word and Spirit in progressive unfolding and quickening power. He has assured
us that if we draw near to Him He will draw near to us, and above all else,
this is what He longs to do. Could we but realize this more, with what
earnestness we would prove the sincerity of our frequently expressed desire, "Nearer my God to Thee, nearer to
Thee." Oh, for more of that understanding heart and attentive ear; to
catch that same expression of desire for nearness in God's address to us! In a
multitude of ways, our Father is asking for a greater nearness to those who
call Him by that wonderful Name.
As
one who realized this has well said: "Put
together all the most tender love you know of, the deepest you have ever felt,
the strongest that has ever been poured out upon you, and heap upon it all the
love of all the loving human hearts in the world; then multiply it by infinity,
and you will begin perhaps to have some faint glimpses of the love and grace of
God!" Could anything satisfy
the deep love of a mother's heart like the intimate spontaneous caress of her
child? Even so, our Father in heaven waits for just such assurances from us of
the consuming love we feel for Him. To this end, He has given us "the spirit of adoption, whereby we
cry, Abba, Father." He has brought us near by the blood of Jesus, that
being hidden in Him we may be: "So
near, so very near to God, nearer we cannot
be; for in the person of His Son, We are as near as He."
To
the maturing saint nothing is as precious as the inward assurance that this
nearness is becoming more and more a blessed reality. The years of walking as He
walked and walking in fellowship with Him, have developed an acuteness of
discernment which enables the mature to catch the clearest vision of His will.
To these there will come a growing love for the things God loves, and
correspondingly, a hatred for all that God cannot love. Inward purity will
become such a vital issue that there will be no more desire to "make provision for the flesh."
Its weaknesses will be dealt with in a determination to achieve victory, and to
be cleansed "from all filthiness of
the flesh and spirit." While others may continue to emphasize the
development of the intellect, and to stress the exterior things, the one living
close to God will more often be heard confessing,
"If
clearer vision You impart,
Grateful and glad my heart
shall be;
But yet to have a purer heart
Is more to me, is more to me."
It is of such as these that the Psalmist writes: "The righteous shall flourish like the
palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in
With
what wonderful consideration for our infirmities the Lord has provided against
any discouragement that might arise through contemplating so happy an
experience as the text just quoted promises. Like beacon lights along the
upward way, there shines forth with beckoning encouragement such assurances of
God's power as these words of Paul: "God
is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all
sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: (As it is written, He
has dispersed abroad; He has given to the poor: His righteousness remains
forever. Now He that ministers seed to the Sower both minister bread for your food, and
multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruit of your righteousness); being
enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causes through us
thanksgiving to God” (2 Cor. 9:8-11). Multiplied tests supply the same
ground for confidence. These heights of Christian experience can be attained by
faithfully drawing from the river of divine grace, beside which the Lord has
planted us. Its reality will come to those who seek it, and not only the
possessor, but the beholder also, will be ready to confess the power of God
thereby revealed. For it is important to remember that the life "hid with Christ in God," though
hidden as to its inner springs, cannot
be concealed as to its outward manifestations. As the Apostle is frank to tell
us, "If we say we are in Him, then
we ought also so to walk even as He
walked." Profession must be
witnessed to by the evidences of possession. Other saints have attained
this, shall not we also?
In
concluding this review of truths so well known by many today, we cannot do
better than to direct attention to a beautiful word picture, truly descriptive
of a Christian character worked out in us by the power of God: "Into all
this we shall undoubtedly be led by the Spirit of God, if we give ourselves up
to His guidance. But unless we have the right standard of Christian life set
before us, we may be hindered by our ignorance from recognizing His voice; and
it is for this reason I desire to be very plain and definite in my statements.
"I
have noticed that wherever there has been a faithful following of the Lord in a
consecrated soul, several things have, sooner or later, inevitably followed: Meekness
and quietness of spirit become in time the characteristics of the daily life. A
submissive acceptance of the will of God, as it comes in the hourly events of
each day, is manifested; pliability in the hands of God to do or to suffer all
the good pleasure of His will; sweetness under provocation; calmness in the
midst of turmoil and bustle; a yielding to the wishes of others [where principle and integrity are not
involved], and an insensibility to slights and affronts; absence of worry
or anxiety; deliverance from care and fear, all these, and many other similar
graces, are invariably found to be the natural outward development of that
inward life which is hid with Christ in God.”
Hannah .Whitall Smith
Then
as to the habits of life: we always see such Christians sooner or later laying
aside thoughts of self, and becoming full of consideration for others; they
dress and live in simple, healthful ways, they renounce self-indulgent habits,
and surrender all purely fleshly gratifications. Some helpful work for others
is taken up, and useless occupations are dropped out of the life. God's glory
and the welfare of His creatures become the absorbing delight of the soul. The
voice is dedicated to Him, to be used in singing His praises. The purse is
placed at His disposal. The pen is dedicated to write for Him, the lips to
speak for Him, the hands and the feet to do His bidding. Year after year, such
Christians are seen to grow more unworldly, more serene, more heavenly-minded,
more transformed, more like Christ, until even their very faces express so much
of the beautiful inward divine life that all who look at them cannot but take
knowledge of them that they live with Jesus and are abiding in Him.
- J. J. Blackburn